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Jim Koehler
Jim Koehler (born James David Koehler) is a monster truck driver out of Columbus, Michigan known for driving the monster truck Avenger. Koehler, nicknamed Mr. Excitement, is known for his wild antics and loud presence on and off the track, for his multiple championships, and for diving into water during the Monster Jam World Finals. History In 1998, Koehler unveiled his first Avenger truck, a Chevy S-10 which he would run until 2000. That year, after a hard crash in New Orleans, Koehler unveiled a new improved Avenger with a newer S-10 body. In 2002, the iconic Chevy Bel Air body was debuted in Indianapolis. In 2003, Koehler won his first Monster Jam World Finals Freestyle championship. In February, he drove Grave Digger in Philadelphia as a substiture for an injured Dennis Anderson. In 2004, Koehler began a tradition of having a special paint scheme for Avenger specifically for the World Finals, and in 2005 created another tradition of jumping into a body of water on the track after his freestyle. In December 2008, It would be the first Monster Jam for the new Avenger and Koehler would go on to win freestyle, and claim his second freestyle championship in 2011. Koehler has also won two championships for freestyle in Australia in 2009 and 2010 driving Avenger. In the 2010 Awards ceremony, he coins the term The Doghouse for drivers who get a score of 4 in Freestyle at the World Finals. In 2015, Koehler performed in the Fox Sports 1 Championship Series. In 2017, Jim celebrated 20 years of driving. He unveiled a new Avenger at the World Finals and went all the way to the semi-final round of racing, the farthest he has gone there. In 2018, Koehler competed in Stadium Championship Series 1. On February 28, it was announced that he had been invited once again to the Monster Jam World Finals 19. In 2019, he once again ran a stadium tour. He drove the Team Scream Monster Mutt in New Orleans. In April 2019, it was announced that he had been invited once again to the Monster Jam World Finals 20. World Finals Appearances & truck schemes * 1999 - Avenger (1994 Chevy) * 2000 - Avenger (1994 Chevy) * 2001 - Avenger (Dark Green S-10 with the #3 flag in honor of former NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt Sr. who died 1 month prior in a car accident at the Daytona 500) * 2002 - Avenger (1957 Chevy) * 2003 - Avenger (1957 Chevy) (won freestyle with this version) * 2004 - Avenger (Orange 1957 Chevy) * 2005 - Avenger (Half-Orange and Half-Dark Green 1957 Chevy) * 2006 - Avenger (Chrome 1957 Chevy) * 2007 - Avenger (Toxic Green 1957 Chevy) * 2008 - Avenger (Light Green 1957 Chevy) * 2009 - Avenger (Aqua Blue 1957 Chevy) * 2010 - Avenger (Flat Black with White Flames 1957 Chevy) * 2011 - Avenger (Candy Apple Red 1957 Chevy) (won freestyle with this version) * 2012 - Avenger (Yellow with Red Flames 1957 Chevy) * 2013 - Avenger (Dark Red 1957 Chevy) * 2014 - Avenger (Purple 1957 Chevy) * 2015 - Avenger (White 1957 Chevy) * 2016 - Avenger (Junkyard Blue 1957 Chevy) * 2017 - Avenger (Dark Green S-10 Retro Scheme) * 2018 - Avenger (Green Custom Nomad) * 2019 - Avenger (Stepp's Towing Red, White & Blue 1957 Chevy) All-Star Challenge Appearances * 2019 - Avenger (Team Fire) Accomplishments 2003 Monster Jam World Finals Freestyle Champion 2009 South Pacific World Finals Freestyle Champion 2010 South Pacific World Finals Freestyle Champion 2011 Monster Jam World Finals Freestyle Champion Trivia * In 2017, he became the only driver, to date, to compete in every World Finals. Until 2017, he and Tom Meents competed in every World Finals including World Finals 0. However, Meents was unable to compete in World Finals 18 due to a lower back injury. With Koehler competing in World Finals 20, he is still the only driver to compete in every World Finals since World Finals 0. * He was also the only driver to drive the same truck in each World Finals, including Motor Madness World Finals "0". Meents, throughout his 17 World Finals appearance streak, drove three different trucks: Goldberg, Team Meents, and Maximum Destruction. * After Jim Freestyled in World Finals 6, they had a pond as a obstacle near the left lane of Thunder Alley. Jim went to the pond and jumped into it. It was a tradition he started and continued. In World Finals 12, they didn't have any pond for him to jump in. So he brought a stretch limo with a bathtub so he can jump in. * Although he does not work for Monster Jam, Jim drove Grave Digger in Philadelphia in 2003 and Monster Mutt one year in Virginia Beach and New Orleans 2019. He also runs Monster Jam bodies on his trucks. * He was the first independent Monster Jam driver to win a world championship title. Category:Drivers Category:Current Drivers Category:North American drivers who have competed in Australia Category:Fill-in Drivers Category:Monster Jam World Championship drivers Category:American drivers Category:Male drivers